Illinois Democratic Senator Dick Durbin says the Environmental Protection Agency is taking too long to set minimum levels for the production of Ethanol and Biodiesel.
Durbin joined several other Senators in pushing the EPA to set levels that are nearly three years past due.
By statute, the EPA is responsible for setting the minimum number of barrels of renewable motor-fuels that must be allowed into a marketplace dominated by petroleum companies.
Durbin says the biofuels industry is critical on several basic levels.
“It’s how we move further toward energy independence, it’s how we clean up our environment, and in our part of the world, it’s how we create jobs, some 5000 of them in the state of Illinois.”
The EPA says it will propose a new rule by June first that will set levels through 2017. It says that rule should be finalized by November 30th.
